Prior to the Engagement
by bellabeee
Summary: The girls are five years out of high school and Ezra is preparing to propose to Aria.  Lots of fun and told from Ezra's point of view.  Please review!
1. Chapter 1

I opened up my contacts, and clicked Hanna Marin's name. The phone started ringing, I was hoping she would pick up because I needed to talk to her, like...now.

"Hello?"

"Hey Hanna!"

"Hey Ezra! What's up? It's been a few weeks since I talked to you."

"I know, Aria and I really enjoyed hanging out with you and Hardy, we need to do it again sometime soon, maybe next weekend? We can all get drinks or something."

"Yeah, totally! Maybe we can invite the other girls too? I feel like it's been forever since we all hung out and now since we're all with somebody no one with have to play third wheel...or 7th wheel I guess."

"That sounds great Hanna, I'm glad you and Hardy are together, I did a good job pairing you two up didn't I? And yeah, I haven't seen Spencer or Toby for a while, and what's Emily up to? Who is she with now?"

Hanna laughed "Emily is with Maya...again. I could get whiplash from how off and on those two girls are. And thank you so much for making me go out with Hardy so he wouldn't have to awkwardly pal around your date. He's wonderful Ezra. I don't mean to sound rude, but I don't think you called just to get the gossip of your former English students. What's up? Is everything alright?"

"Hanna, everything's and everyone's wonderful. I have a huge favor to ask you."

"Sure, I owe you one"

"Are you doing anything Saturday?"

"Like this Saturday? That's two days away or next Saturday?"

"This Saturday"

"Uhm...no...but I'm guessing I'm going to have plans soon, what's going on?"

"I want you to come with me to help me pick out a ring. I mean you're Aria's best friend and everything, and you know her tastes about these things better than I do, and..."

Hanna cut him off and started squealing with excitement, "What? Wait, Ezra! What kind of ring are we talking about here? You mean like an engagement ring? Ezra!"

I laughed, "yes, Hanna, an engagement ring."

"Does she know? Does she have any idea? Have you told anyone else yet?"

"Well, I don't think she knows, but it won't be that big of a surprise, I mean, how many years have we been together now? It's been five years since you girls graduated, so seven years. We've talked about it before, and I just think this is the perfect time. No, I haven't told anyone else, I'm planning on calling Hardy after this. Then in a day or two I'll tell my parents, and eventually her parents."

"They are going to be so thrilled!"

"I hope so," even though Aria's parents have known about their relationship for almost six years now, Ezra still got a little nervous talking to them, especially about big things like this.

"Of course they are, they love you! Can I call the rest of the girls, or do you want me to wait, or do you want to call them, or do you want Aria to tell them after it happens, or..."

Hanna was getting carried away, "you can tell them now," I interrupted.

"Do you know how you are going to do it yet? Like how you're going to propose?"

"Not exactly, I mean I have some ideas, but nothing is set in stone yet"

"We can talk on Saturday about it, what are you going to tell Aria you're doing then?"

"Well she has some sort of orientation thing at Hollis that she has to speak for, so she'll be busy all day, but I'll probably just tell her I'm going out with Hardy and you for lunch or something."

"Okay, that sounds good. How about we invite Hardy so I don't feel bad about lying?"

"I guess that's fine. I mean, he won't be much help picking out a ring, but it would be nice to hang out."

"Yay!" she squealed, "I can't believe this is happening! I'm so happy for you two!"

I laughed, it didn't take much to get Hanna excited. I knew she would be delighted to help me with this. "Thank you Hanna, I really appreciate your help. I'll make an appointment for us to go look at Tiffany's, there's one in Philadelphia, it's a little bit of a drive, but..."

"Oh My Sweet Baby Jesus, Ezra! You're buying her a ring from Tiffany's? You have got to be kidding me!"

"Well, I sold Jackie's old ring and got some money from that and I have been saving for a while, so I think I have enough to get her something decent from there."

"Trust me, Ezra, any girl would rather have a tiny Tiffany's ring than a huge ring from anywhere else! This is perfect!"

"Thank you Hanna, how about we leave here around one? We will get there around two then?"

"That sounds great! I'm so excited! I'm going to call the girls after this, they are going to be thrilled."

"Great, Hanna. Just make sure this doesn't get around to Aria."

"Oh, Fitz, it won't, trust me!"

"Okay, I'm going to call up Hardy now."

"Alright, thank you so much for calling and giving me the good news! I can't wait until Saturday, talk to you then."

"Bye, Hanna"

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><p>Hope you guys liked it so far! Much more to come!<p>

The more reviews that you write, the quicker I will update!


	2. Chapter 2

After I got off the phone with Hanna I called up Tiffany's to make my appointment. I was excited, but also nervous, this was starting to feel real. Even though this was my second engagement, it felt like the first. This time was more real than before, I was at the right stage in my life and I was truly in love. However, the demise of my last engagement made me nervous about this one, but that wasn't going to hold me back.

All of a sudden, the ringing of my phone interrupted my thinking. I picked it up before even checking who was calling.

"Ezra! So you don't tell your best friend that you're getting engaged, but you tell his girlfriend...tell me your logic behind that!"

"Hey Hardy," I laughed, "I was just about to call you, but I should have figured Hanna would have got to you before I could."

"She is good at getting the word out...So, Ezra! You're going to get engaged! Wow! Is the second time just as exciting?"

"Oh shut it, Hardy. You will never let me live Jackie down will you?"

"I can't believe this is happening. I remember meeting Aria at that bar when you were reading your writing, never would have guessed then that you two would be tying the knot. Are you nervous?"

"I mean, I know she's going to say yes. So I'm not nervous about that, but I am nervous about her parents. Ever since we were sneaking around them while she was still in high school, I've always been a little bit afraid of them, especially her dad."

"Please, Ezra, you're the epitome of the golden boy that everyone wants as a son-in-law."

"But I was her teacher, Hardy."

"I think they're over that already. When are you going to talk to them?"

"Probably sometime next week"

"I'm so happy for you, man. So we're going ring shopping this weekend? That's going to be fun." His voice couldn't sound more sarcastic.

"Hey, your girlfriend was the one who invited you. I know that shopping isn't your favorite way to be spending your weekend."

"Just because you're my best friend I'll tag along."

"Thanks Hardy. I knew I could count on you. I'll pick you guys up around one."

"Alright, I'll see you then."

"Bye, see you on Saturday."

I couldn't believe this was happening. For the past seven years I have dreamed about marrying Aria and spending the rest of my life with her, and now everything was starting to fall into place. I just needed to think about how to do this, did I want it to be big and romantic or more intimate. With Aria, she would like either, which made making a decision nearly impossible. I suppose I had some time to think about it. Maybe after talking to Hanna and Hardy on Saturday they would help me. I wasn't planning to call my parents until after the weekend, but maybe I should do it now. I started calling and waited for them to pick up the phone.

"Ezra! Honey! How are you?"

"Hi Mom! I'm great, how are you?"

"I'm good, same old same old here. What is new in your life? How's work? How's Aria?"

"Work is great, the summer semester just started so Aria and I are both busy. She's wonderful Mom..." I thought for a few seconds about how to tell her about this, "Mom...how would you feel about me proposing to Aria?'

Before I could even finish my sentence she started talking over me, "Oh Ezra! I love Aria, you know I would be fine with that. You two are obviously in love and you both have jobs and are financially stable, honey, I think it is a wonderful idea."

"Thanks Mom, I really appreciate your support, I know you weren't exactly ecstatic about Jackie."

"Well, you and Jackie were right out of college. You were both just starting to work. And you hardly knew her, it just seemed so rushed."

"I know Mom."

"And plus, Aria is just so much sweeter. You two are perfect for each other. Have you picked out a ring yet?"

"No, actually I am going to do that this weekend, Hardy is coming with me."

"Oh Hardy, how is he? I'm sure absolutely thrilled about going ring shopping with you."

"He's good. He's actually dating one of Aria's best friends now, she's coming with us too."

"That's good, you will have lots of opinions. If you are in between any, send me the pictures and I can put in my two cents."

I laughed, of course my mom had to be a part of a decision like this, "Sure Mom."

"We will have to make a visit to see you guys after it happens, Ezra. Maybe we can throw you a little engagement party?"

"That would be great, I miss you and Dad."

"We miss you too, honey, but we will see you soon."

"I can't wait," Then I heard the door open. "Hey, Mom, I got to go, Aria's home."

"Bye Ezra! Love you!"

"I love you too Mom, bye."

Aria was just getting home from the two summer classes she was teaching at Hollis.

"Hi sweetie! I'm so happy you're home." I gave her a hug and a kiss. "How were your classes?"

"They were good," she seemed suspicious, "what can't you wait for? You seem really excited about something."

"Well I was just talking to my mom and her and my dad my be coming into town sometime soon."

"Oh that's nice! We haven't seen them in a while. We could even take them to that new Italian restaurant we've been loving!"

It made me really happy that Aria liked my parents so much, she really was perfect, I just couldn't get enough of her. The more and more that was happening today, the more real this was all starting to feel, and the more excited I was getting.

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><p>So happy about the great reviews so far! I love reading them! Please keep them coming, they are so motivating!<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

It was finally Saturday. I had jitters already, and all I was doing today was buying a ring, I couldn't imagine what I would be like on the day I propose. I had waited until Aria left and then I got ready to leave. I put on a pair of dark jeans and a grey button down shirt. I usually cared about what I wore to an extent, but today I felt like I had to look a certain way. At a place like Tiffany's I knew you had to look a certain way to get the best service, and Aria deserved the best service, even if it was indirectly.

I picked up the two lovebirds and we made our way to Philadelphia. We finally got to Tiffany's, we spent the first 20 minutes listening to Hanna ogle over everything and asking Hardy if he would buy it for her. He finally gave in to a pair of small diamond stud earrings.

"I don't care if they're small! Just look how they sparkle! And, I feel like a princess in them."

"Don't say I never got you anything nice Hanna"

"Thank you Hardy! Thank you so much! They're so pretty, I'm going to wear them forever and never take them off."

They started being all giggly and showing way too much PDA for me to handle, at least without Aria here. Usually in these kinds of situations, we would just start doing the same and everything would be fine, but without her, I was going insane.

"Guys...can we do what we came here for?"

"Oh my goodness! Ezra! I'm sorry! Lets pick out this ring! Do they know we are here?"

"Yes, Hanna," I pointed to the man standing by one of the engagement ring doors, "They've been waiting for us for about a half hour now."

We went into the room and the employee started asking me all kinds of questions, his first one, was if Hanna was the lucky girl, but I explained to him the situation.

"Well, Mr. Fitz, do you know what Aria's ring size is? I can bring out some potential rings based on your budget and we can go from there."

"I believe it's a 7 or a 7.5..." How did I not know this?

"She's a 7. We all know each other's ring sizes, just in case something like this would ever happen." Hanna said in her know-it-all voice.

"Thanks Hanna, I owe you again."

"Well, Ezra, did you really thing that they wouldn't know each other's ring sizes? They know everything about each other."

"Right you are, Hardy."

"So Mr. Fitz, here are some options for the future Mrs. Fitz." It was so weird to hear someone saying Mrs. Fitz when they weren't referring to my mom, they were referring to my future wife.

"Aria Fitz," I didn't realize I was talking out loud, "Sorry, it was just the first time that I thought of her last name being Fitz. Okay, show me the rings."

The employee brought out so many options that it was nearly impossible to decide. Hanna was able to narrow it down to three; a 1 karat round brilliant three stone, a 1.5 karat princess cut solitare, and a 1.5 karat round cut solitare. I didn't like the ring with three stones, it just looked like too much. And I sent pictures of the other two for my mom to see. Almost instantly she messaged me back,

"Hi Honey. Round cut, hands down. Call me if you have any questions."

"Round cut it is then!" I said after taking a deep breath.

"Your in luck, Sir. Usually we have to order the ring because we don't have the size that the customer wants, but if you would like we have one in the back we can send you home with you if you want it."

He brought it out. I wasn't one for jewelry, but it was absolutely gorgeous.

"I'll take it, let me write a check out for you, and I will take it. Thank you so much."

"Thank you, Mr. Fitz! Congratulations to you and the future Mrs. Fitz. I'm sure she is as beautiful as this ring is."

"She is more beautiful than words could even describe." I wrote out the check and handed it to the employee.

"Thank you again!"

"Thank you! Enjoy it!"


	4. Chapter 4

It was Tuesday and I finally put my car into park outside of Aria's parent's house. I had been circling the block for the past half hour trying to convince myself not to drive back home. I probably should have called; they didn't even know I was coming, which made me even more nervous. Maybe then they might have expected big news. I took a deep breath and opened my car door with my nervously shaking hands. I felt like there were a million tiny butterflies in my stomach. I hadn't felt like this since the first time I went in this house alone after Aria told her parents that we were dating. I got to the doorstep and rang the doorbell. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears. The seconds that it took for them to answer the door felt like hours to me. Finally I heard a click, someone was unlocking the door.

"Hi, Ezra! How are you?"

"I'm good Mrs. Montgomery, how are you?"

"Oh Ezra! Call me Ella how many times have I told you that. I am good though I was just relaxing." She had told me a million times before, but I still felt more comfortable calling her Mrs. Montgomery.

"Sorry, Ella. Is Byron around?" I felt so odd asking if Aria's father was around, but I would rather just do her parents in one sweep rather than have to talk to each one separately.

"Yes he is. He's upstairs doing some paperwork. Would you like for me to get him for you?" Ella always made me feel at home, which was quickly calming my nerves, but Aria's dad always scared me a little.

"That would be great. Could I talk to you both?"

She looked confused, "Uhm...sure. Is everything okay?"

"Yes, everything's fine."

"Okay, Ezra. Have a seat and I'll get Byron and I'll be right down. Do you want anything to drink? Help yourself, we have tea in the fridge that I made earlier."

"Thanks, but I'm good right now."

"Alright, I'll be right back."

I sat down on the big couch in their living room. When Aria was still living at home we spent a lot of time on this couch. We would sit and watch old movies with a big bowl of popcorn and she would usually end up falling asleep on my shoulder before the movie was over. This would be our default seat during family holidays. I would sit on the far left, she would sit in the middle, and Mike would be on the other side. This is also the same couch that I sat on whenever I first talked to her parents about our relationship. They were so many emotions that day. Aria's parents were very upset, but they were also happy for their daughter, even under the circumstances. I like them, I really do, but someday I'm afraid they are going to start on me about me being Aria's teacher. Years later, and I'm still afraid of that. The only time they had mentioned anything about it after their initial month or two of shock was the time we went on a cruise to the Bahamas after Aria's freshman year at Hollis. It was evening and Aria and Ella were at the spa, Mike was out with his girlfriend at the time, and Byron and I were at the bar. I was still level headed, but Byron had one too many. He started telling me how he didn't approve of us dating, even though he acted like it. He told me it made him feel uncomfortable because I was his daughter's teacher. Okay, maybe I wasn't level headed, but then I went back at him about how he cheated on his wife with one of his students. It ended up with me just walking out of the bar and we acted like nothing happened the next day. However, to this day I still feel like there is some tension there between the two of us.

"Hey Ezra! Ella's going to be right down, how are you?" Byron said as he was coming down the stairs.

"I'm great Byron, how about yourself?"

"Not to bad, just doing some paperwork for my classes, you know how that is."

"Never ends does it?"

"Never."

"Okay. I'm back," Ella said as she sat down on the chair next to Byron. They were both sitting across from me, which made me feel even more intimidated and made the situation very confrontational. "What do you want to talk to us about Ezra? Is everything alright? Everything good with you and Aria?"

Instead of answering and avoiding the main thing I came to talk about, I decided to just jump right in.

"Byron and Ella, as you know, I love your daughter very much. She has changed my life since first meeting her. We have both helped each other in dark times and we have stayed strong and true to each other. Even though our relationship may not have had a conventional start, I..."

"That's an understatement," Byron grunted, almost under his breath.

"Byron, let him talk." Ella said.

"Even though we didn't start the same way most couples do, we have grown together and are growing more and more in love every day." I saw tears start to well up in Ella's eyes. I could tell she knew where I was going with this. Byron looked a little bit upset, which meant he also probably knew where I was going with this, but it was a soft upset. It seemed like even though he was upset, he was very happy for his daughter at the same time, even though he was trying not to show it.

"Go on, Ezra." Ella said with a nod. I must have paused a while when I was thinking and trying to analyze how they were feeling about this.

"Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery, I came here 6 years ago to ask you if I could date your daughter. I come here today to ask you if I can marry her."

By this point in time, Ella had tears streaming down her face and was nodding at me. I was even starting to tear up.

"Of course, Ezra." Byron said. "We know you love her very much, and I would be lying if I said that we didn't see this coming,"

"Thank you so much, I can't explain how happy your daughter makes me."

Ella started to get out of her seat to hug me, so I got up too. "Seeing you two happy makes us happy, Ezra. We're going to have a great son-in-law, Byron, don't you think?"

"Yes we are."

We sat in silence for a few seconds, which felt like an eternity.

"So, Ezra! Have you gotten a ring yet?"

"Actually, yes I have. Here let me show you." I pulled out my phone and showed Ella and Byron the picture of the ring that I sent my mom.

"Wow! That is absolutely gorgeous." Ella said, I could tell how excited she was just by the tone of her voice.

"Nice choice." Byron said after seeing the picture.

We talked a little bit about when the proposal was going to happen and how and my uncertainties about what to do. They gave me some ideas but I still wasn't sure on how it was actually going to happen. Ella then went upstairs to call Mike and a few close family members. Byron continued to talk to me for a few minutes about Hollis things, and then I left. On my drive home I didn't even notice what was going on around me. I was too ecstatic about what had just happened. Hopefully by this time next week, Aria was going to be my fiancé.


	5. Chapter 5

It was Friday night and I was sitting at our apartment. The television was on in the background. Aria was at her parent's house tonight. I had some work to finish up, so I stayed home. I went into our bedroom and went inside of one of my drawers. I grabbed a small bag that I would usually put toiletries into when traveling. I unzippered it and pulled out a little blue box. I then sat down on the side of the bed and opened it up and opened up the black velvet box that was inside. There it was. There was the gorgeous ring I was going to give Aria tomorrow. I had everything planned. I was a little bit nervous, but not really. I just wanted it to be here. Chances are, I wouldn't be sleeping tonight. I was too excited. I took the black box over to the full length mirror on the back of the door. I felt ridiculous, but I kneeled down onto one knee.

"Aria Montgomery, will you marry me?"

It felt so silly to practice, but it helped ease my jitters. I knee exactly how to open the box now without the ring flying out, and I knew how to dislodge the ring from it's slot without dropping it.

I looked at the ring for a while and put it back into its hiding space where I had been keeping it.

Then, I went back into the living room and flipped through the channels. Finally, I came across Breakfast at Tiffany's on TCM. I was the biggest sucker for old movies, romantic ones and ones that featured Audrey Hepburn were two of my biggest guilty pleasures. I went to the kitchen and poured myself a glass of scotch. I then sat down and watched the movie, it wasn't too far in, so I got to watch most of it. My favorite part was at the end where they kissed in the rain. Reminded myself of Aria and I. I could not wait until tomorrow.

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><p>Yes, I know that was short, but totally necessary.<p> 


	6. Chapter 6

"You almost ready yet?" I yelled at our bedroom door.

"Hold on!" Aria yelled back, "You want me to look nice don't you?"

"You always look nice, hun. You could be wearing nothing and still look perfect."

"You're such a guy, you know that?"

"You say it like it's a bad thing"

"Yeah, I'll be out in one second!"

I sat down on our couch and flipped through the channels for a few minutes when she finally came out.

"Alright, let's go."

"Well, you look nice!" Aria was wearing a short black strapless dress that had a light blue sash around the waist, and she had on high heeled strappy black sandals. She still wasn't tall enough to reach my mouth though, so she went up on her toes and kissed me.

"Thank you, so do you."

"Why thank you, my dear."

"So where are we going?"

"We are going to that new Italian restaurant that opened. Would you want to walk? I mean, it would only take 10 minutes or so, and I feel like it would take longer to find a parking spot."

"Sure, that's fine."

So we left the apartment and started walking to the restaurant. I was so nervous the whole time. When we walked, I held her hand with one of my hands and the other one was in my pocket, the pocket that the ring was in. I wanted to make sure she didn't notice the bulge from the box, but if she did I would just tell her that it was my wallet. However, I hoped she wouldn't notice.

We finally got to the restaurant and enjoyed our food. We even bought a bottle of wine to enjoy, it didn't help that I needed it to loosen up a little either. I was surprised that I was able to eat as much as I did for how nervous I was. I think Aria might have noticed that something was going on, but I don't think she had any idea what was really going on. After we were done eating we started on our way back to the apartment. Whenever we could see the little plaza in the center of town in the distance Aria noticed something.

"Ezra, do you see those lights over there?"

"Yes..." my stomach did a little flip...of course I saw them. I knew all about them.

"What do you think they are?"

"Here, let's go see." She started to hurry closer to them, "Oh! Look how pretty! The gazebo and everything around it is all light up!"

"Do you want to go see it close up?"

"Sure!"

So we walked until we were in the gazebo that was in the center of the plaza. The gazebo had a dusting of tiny little lights all over it, like the kind of lights that you use at Christmas time. The bushes and trees around the gazebo also had lights on them.

"It looks gorgeous doesn't it?"

"Yes it does, Ezra. I've never seen this part of Rosewood look so pretty! I mean, it has always been one of my favorite parts, but it has never been this beautiful."

"You're beautiful." I put my arms around her, and then we started to kiss, slowly but passionately. I broke the kiss after a few seconds when I saw something out of my eyes that I had almost forgotten about. "Here, for you!" I handed her a bouquet of white roses, her favorite.

"Ezra! Put those down! Those are someone else's, they might come back to get them!"

"No, Aria. They're for you."

"What do you mean? We just got here..."

"Aria, this is all for you. One fall day seven years ago I met a 16 year old girl at a bar who I almost instantly fell in love with. It hasn't always been easy, but I love her more and more everyday. Aria, you make me happier than anyone has ever made me, and you fill a space in me that could not be filled otherwise." At this point, I put my hand in my pocket to slowly get out the ring, "I have always known that I have wanted to spend the rest of my life with you and I have been thinking that it is time for us to take the next step and move forward together. I love you more than anything" I pulled out the box and kneeled down on one knee, I could already see tears welling up in her eyes. "Aria Montgomery, will you marry me?"

She nodded her head as I put the ring on her finger. "Of course, Ezra. I love you."

"I love you too." With this I took her in my arms and kissed her. We stood there in each other's arms for a while.

"You're my fiancé now, Ezra. Can you believe that?"

"It's a great feeling, isn't it? You're the future Mrs. Fitz."

"Mr. and Mrs. Ezra Fitz...I'm going to be Aria Fitz!"

I nodded, "Yes you are, my dear!"

"Did you put up these lights and everything?"

"I didn't but Hardy and Hanna did."

"Oh! They're so wonderful! I have to call everyone up and tell them, this is amazing news!"

I chuckled, "I've already called everyone who could possibly need to know, but I'm sure they would love hearing it from you."

We kissed again and it was one of the best kisses I have ever had in my life, however, I knew one much better was waiting around the corner.

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><p>Yay! End of story!<p>

Hope you all enjoyed it!

Please review it if you liked it (or disliked it I guess)


	7. Chapter 7

Want to know what happens after the engagement?

Check out my new story, Prior to the Wedding, which is a sequel to this story!

It is told from Aria's point of view and tells about the preparation for their wedding!


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